University College London, Institute of Archaeology

UCL is the largest archaeological department in the country and offers an exceptionally wide range of topics covering both archaeological practice and cultural area studies.

What they say:

We are located in the middle of UCL’s Bloomsbury campus, at the heart of one of the world’s largest and most cosmopolitan cities, and this allows our staff and students to draw on a vast range of academic resources and participate in a great variety of cultural experiences. We also have an unrivalled range of over 70 specialist staff, nearly 300 undergraduates, and over 350 graduates who come from many different countries, age groups and backgrounds.

Our courses are taught by staff actively involved in original research and keen to encourage fresh, up-to-date responses to their topics. The Institute engages with many different academic audiences, plays host to numerous lectures, seminars and conferences on many different aspects of archaeology and is linked to many other heritage institutions, archaeological societies and organizations. We also run a commercial archaeology unit, the Centre for Applied Archaeology, that specialises in field research, training and contract archaeology and which operates primarily in south-east England.

What we say:

With a library hosting one of the finest open-access collections of archaeology, conservation and heritage studies in the
world, UCL consistently ranked as one of the top three archaeology departments in the UK. They host numerous
lectures, seminars and conferences which attract an international audience. UCL is also home to the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology. UCL was rated Frist for archaeology in UK by the Guardian’s 2012 league tables of universities and has one of the largest ranges of Masters level courses in the UK. There is also a strong continuing education department and postgraduate courses can be taken part-time.